SL13B - The Shared Adventure

A brief look at the beginnings of the 13th birthday celebration.

https://youtu.be/sKMHFxtgHlo

Shadows - A Love Story

My first film in oh so many months, it was made in part so that I didn't forget all my capture and editing skills.  Happily the smooth cams were as smooth as they could be (new computer probably helped some there) and editing came easy.

Filmed at Fantasy Faire before it opened and grayness became queen, it is a fitting tale for the environment.

See it at SLARTIST here.

Or YouTube here.

SL13B Call to Artists

 

Want to do something big? Or a creation perhaps on a smaller scale?

SL13B is looking for participants for the infrastructure of the celebration. Both giant plots with a purpose and "art areas" are up for grabs so send in those proposals.

http://www.slcommunitycelebration.info/infrastructure-build-requirements-for-sl13b/

Vision

screenshot - "Contact"  1997

It is a director's job to have a vision -- see the big picture -- instruct his actors in making his ideas materialize. It is the cinematographer's job to keep us entranced. The editor needs the shots to merge and meld the visuals into a cohesive story, the camera man needs to spot the angles and catch the light.

As I was watching this film for possibly the third time, this shot caused me to -- well, pause the video. Much of the movie and intent is said in this brief bit of footage. Need, intent, battles, history -- overlayed against the array that could bring the answers.

Sometimes a picture IS worth a thousand words.

Rez Friendly - Hermoupolis

This is HERMOUPOLIS, a friendly village on the Paris Land sim. Not only is it quaint and packed full of wonderful photo op spots, it is rez friendly.

This is just one of the growing number of photographer oases in Second Life. Some full prim sims and many homesteads, they cover the gambit of genres and make life easier for the creative artists attempting to catch the light and the perfect moment.

Many of these sims welcome filming folks as well as the Flickr crowd; be sure and check with the owners to keep that "legal" status of course.

With so many new spots for photography and filming, I can see that MOSP isn't really needed any longer -- and that's a good thing really. So while I will still be around -- and indeed have a film in the works -- I will be more centered on letting you know of places that I find than providing yet another locale.

Some areas will remain at the MOSP location as I use them and sometimes just enjoy standing in the environments -- and you are of course welcome to also. But since I am running out of prims in my long standing store sim, I really need to make some changes. I can only shuffle so much. 

Not much else will change here at the MOSP blog. I will drop by now and then with tips and locales of interest and when some big news appears on the horizon, you guys will definitely be in the know.

Photographer - Artist Oportunity

used with permission

Fantasy Faire will be hosting artists again this year. So get your friends together, you most imaginative attire cleaned and pressed and join in the adventure.

More info here. https://fantasyfairesl.wordpress.com/2016/03/16/invitation-to-imagination-fantasy-art-in-the-faire/

From the blog post:

This year the gallery will emerge in the Arts and Entertainment sim built by Haveit Neox. We are planning to have more artists than ever before, and we are asking for help in finding more Second Life fantasy artists!

Full press release on the Faire here: https://fantasyfairesl.wordpress.com/press-release-2/

Hover

I realized this morning while taking photos with a friend that this prop which still looks great but is VERY old had no height adjustment. Actually, as I typed those words I remembered the old /1a in chat trick. Some of you may not have been around when adjustments to seating were a chat bar process OR, like me, you may have forgotten that necessity.

But what I really wanted to say with this post is that you can OFTEN (not always) use hover height to adjust your sit or stand as well as feet going through or floating above the floor. I notice that height adjustments need to be made more often with mesh bodies and feet (probably not so much for the guys).

Height hover is in the Firestorm Quick Preferences button; since The Lab is the one that put it back, I am guessing that the feature can be found fairly easily in the official viewer.

Happy hovering!

A Photo Contest You Don't Want to Miss

House, cash, furniture and gift cards can all be yours in the Home and Garden Expo Photo Contest.  I honestly can't remember a challenge with such hefty prizes. And best of all -- in my mind anyway -- this is NOT a popularity contest but one judged by a panel.

Read all about it here:  https://slhomeandgardenexpo.wordpress.com/photo-contest-rules/

New Additions

With not a lot of land impact points on the tally sheet, "extras" don't fit in easily. But when huge piles of clutter are only one land impact -- well of course I could not resist. Find a variety of make-virtual-more-real items up in the sound stage.

And, for any non-seasoned machinimatographers or photographers -- when you DON'T want something in the scene, you can right click and "derender" in some viewers. If yours doesn't let you do that --- well, you might want to check out another -- at least for your artier adventures.

Clearer Skies

One plus about living on mainland NEAR the water is that you can find yourself with clearer skies due to protected land -- otherwise known as maintenance :D.

I visited MOSP this morning as my building pad was in restart status. The skies and waters were unusually clear. I thought I had turned my draw distance down for a photo, but no, it was at 382 (well thank goodness for hefty computers).

MOSP 2.0 is on Route 7 which is handy and gives road frontage and buffer. Now it has a better view due to the abandonment of an ocean sim. The land across the road -- now waterfront -- is rental, so I will keep watch over that and someday expansion may be possible. Meanwhile the neighborhood is pretty nice and sets other than ground level are safely ensconced in surrounds.

EDIT:  Well by mid afternoon SLT the "previous tenant" had returned. I did fly out  to the sim this morning to check the land tab and it did indeed say protected land. It wasn't just missing from a restart as I FLEW through the sim and READ that land tab info. So perhaps the owner just forgot to pay tier and got that straightened out. 

Alas, it was nice while it lasted. Have to say there seems to be quite a few unusual things happening lately. But we are used to that.

Let There Be Light

click for larger photo

Now a lot of you will probably know this, but for the non-builders here's a little trick that can help with your photos. And -- its easy. 

When you need light in a certain area and Windlight isn't helping you out, you can make your own illumination easily. Simple rez a sphere, go to the FEATURES tab in the building menu and put a check in the "light" box. You can play with the numbers if you are adventurous or just use as is. You can of course make two or three lights as needed. 

If they will be out of your shooting frame, they work as is. If not you can go to the textures tab, click on the texture box which probably looks like plywood, and choose transparent.  If you loose tack of your ball light, just hold down the Ctrl and Alt keys and tap "T" and it will appear in red --- along with anything else that is transparent. Ugly, but it works.

You can of course build your light balls right a MOSP, but if you are in a spot where you can't rez, you can ATTACH a premade light to your body AND put yourself in a pose so you won't be shifting the light around. That works too. 

 

New in Sound Stage One

larger photo here

Need a technical area for your new spy film?   Find it in Sound Stage One.

Blogging from MOSP

 

Last week was spent remaking some items into mesh and retrieving prims from the dreaded "objects remaining" counter. With that accomplished I added some newness to the just rebuilt city  -- including a photo studio of sorts.

It is sparse and I plan on digging through my inventory or finding some new low prim chairs to add to the area, but even in its minimalist mode it useful. Check out the  fun curtain backdrop with poses (includes male and couples). The curtains are color change but I haven't tested to see it that works for everyone. They are currently gray against the walnut walls and that works well.  Other items were added in various spots, some with animations, some for added ambiance.

Folks are stopping by and that is good, but a surprising perk was finding how much "I" am using the resurrected MOSP. True, I hardly journeyed away from LEA MOSP those three years. There was always some place for a good photo right under my feet :D. It isn't really surprising this new version works well for me.

I would like to tell you that I am working on a film. I do have an idea but it needs time and energy from others and I am not sure if that will work out. Meanwhile, I am having fun taking photos and enjoying having locales that work for most posts.


Here are a couple of my favorite blogger shots from last week.

Apocalypse area. 

Sound Stage One Bedroom and Bath

So come on over and explore. Be sure and bring your camera. 

Machinima Open Studio Project - Now Open

2013 -  MOSPs second reincarnation

And MOSP continues.

No 50 prim cameras are in evidence. Sleek and to the point --  I hope it works well for ya.



Photos of all the locations along with SLURLs are in the top bar of the MOSP blog.

Landmarks to the locations are available from ground level here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Swanbridge/194/77/23

20 minute rez is in effect and tested.

Have fun. Play nice.

CREATE!

MOSP Version 2.0

I just finished putting up the last area at the new MOSP.   She is sleek and stylish and since I am a minimalist, she will be fine. Happily most all of the long time favorites are represented. There are many details missing of course, but the FEEL is there and with some fancy Windlights and good staging we will all have more places for photography and film.

There is a temporary sign with landmarks at ground level here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Swanbridge/194/77/23

A few more extras can be added after I venture over to Blender and reclaim some prims, but things are in good shape.


A list of locations with photos will appear soon on an always available page, but in the meantime. Here are the spots you can look forward to visiting.

Beach - surf shack and artist's retreat
City - walk in tunnel, construction site, roads, building backdrops
Farm - the new Bayou Shack, barn, outhouse and lots of great animated props
Road to Nowhere - the not quite so long country road (still pretty convincing)
Standing Stones - still very magical
Post Apocalypse - with house and furnishing (oh my)
Grunge City (City of Lost Souls) - Just a street with grunge buildings and a bus stop but happy it is represented

In the Sound Stage we have - military barracks (new), manly and girlie areas of the gym, kitchen and dining (new), bedroom (new) and bath with shower

Except for ground level, sets are housed in surrounds or the (I am SO glad I still had this) rainbow sky bubble from Trompe Loeil  (long ago release).  If you prefer natural sky you can simply derez the bubbles.  You can of course rez your own light globes and I have a tutorial on how to do that  coming up in a post soon.



Come film!

Road To Nowhere Plus New

 Road To Nowhere

One of my personal favorite MOSP locales, the Country Road (otherwise known as the Road To Nowhere) is happily up. I have a short list of Blender projects to reclaim some primmage and that will happen soon.  In the meantime, here is where I am at.



Two new sets are in Sound Stage One which has a much more sleek look than its predecessor.

Kitchen and Dining  - always in high demand

 Military Life Barracks --  a fun and low land impact set

The Sound stage is in a surround, but you can easily derender that if you want to get some shadows into the scenes.

More soon. 

Beach and City

Some quitting for the day photos to peak your interest. I am using my prims sparingly and have a couple more major areas to build and then some sound stages (she says hopefully). So far so good.

Large photos where you can actually see things can be found on Flickr on the MOSP group here.

New things mix with old favorites. I am choosing in part by "primmage" (that really NEEDS to be a word) and animations. The tunnel was the Blender project of the day and has a photo of the original LEA20 tunnel from long ago as its faux view.  Fun.

BEACH

THE BEST OF THE CITY and the NEW TUNNEL

Not done of course but a start and since I never put a lock on the LEA MOSPs I see no reason to do that now.

MOSP Reopens

Now did I KNOW that when I posted this early morn?

Nope, I did not.

But I knew "something" was up. I was itchy. Even though something was calling me, I wasn't clear just what it was.  Here's the story in stream of consciousness form. Follow along. Stay alert now!

* * * * * * * * * * *

I spent the morning looking at land. When I started I wasn't looking for MOSP, I was looking for my shop. But after tubbing (I SO get a lot accomplished while daydreaming (and real dreaming) in those warm waters) I knew I was actually looking for MOSP. 

I had decided to look for a 4096 which supports 937 prims.  Now that is WAY less than a sim  -- well, duh!   At the same time I am a pretty clever gal when it comes to prim budgets. AND I know what places were the most popular at LEA MOSP simply because I kept running into people there.

After many hours  --- (a RL friend tells me I have the BEST "land karma" both in RL and in SL, but honestly I think it is just because I am tenacious; I really looked for four hours or more)  I finally found a slightly bigger parcel than I was searching for (when nets are empty best to make nets larger).

Bordering a road and on the other side of that -- a Linden beach, hill and waterway,   the parcel could be used for commercial (yes, believe it or not most folks think a free machinima studio is commercial *wink* ) and (this was a bonus) I have the ability to turn on rez.  

So, we are in business.   I terraformed and landscaped and got a couple of builds down on the sandy palmy beach and then worked on a city build. My plan is to make a lot (a LOT) of 64 meter skyboxes with various themes as well as some sound stages of old. A few old things will remain, personal favorites and hits with the masses; areas that I am not willing to give up. Other installations will be new.

I work pretty fast but I have a few things I need to build in Blender also, so I will keep you apprised. Some areas should be open by February 1st if I don't crash and burn before then.

Now I need to go spend those 1100 prims (well I will save "some" for you guys).

Who am I kidding. Long day. R and R time.

:D

 

Where Did That Month Go?

Chic waves madly letting you know she and her typist are both still fine. 

The days are somewhere between busy and frantic and then lassitude creeps in. Holding patterns come into play and decisions on directions become lost in the mist.

Well THAT was poetic *wink*.   

I HAVE been thinking. I just haven't found a road to start walking down yet.  That seems to be in the wind these days as I note many plans announced by others have stalled also. Odd how patterns percolate -- one person basing their ideas and plans on that of another. One stalls and momentum halts -- at least for awhile.

So what HAVE I been doing since no new video footage has been revealed (or even left in limbo on Drive F)?  

Mostly I have been working in Blender Cycles. After a year with that complex part of the program I am finally in sailing along territory and can pretty much make whatever I want in the houses and furniture category. Textures are now fun to build and sometimes breathtaking inworld. I am a happy creator. My collection of houses, decor and dare I say "props" is getting impressive and hopefully will be put to use in the not too distant future.

2015 left behind both memories and absences, UWA's active presence (no post on their blog since the awards) and of course MOSP's disappearance from the scene. But newness is around each corner in Second Life. One only needs to explore with an open heart.

Hopefully my muse will return soon.


PS.  I can't believe how many people stop by this blog even when I am not posting any great news or revelations. Thanks for caring.